Proposal of a fireproof design code for dwellings against the action of wildland fires

Ignition Locations and Simplified Design Guidelines for Enhancing the Resilience of Dwellings against Wildland Fires

“…In order to replicate the indirect effect of the firebrand accumulation, the same scientists also proposed a revised standard temperature curve [21]. Furthermore, these authors recently conducted an extensive experimental campaign to study the firebrand reaction in popular material specimens used in the construction industry due to firebrand accumulation [27].…”

“…These two methods were utilized in Section 5, and it was outside the scope of this paper to provide all the mathematical calculations performed. Further details on these procedures can be found in the literature [27,64]. These curves will be affected depending on the strategic importance of each building and the wildfire exposure class scenario.…”

“…The fire resistance and reaction class recommendations were based on results provided in the previous work [27] by the same authors in which wildfires were compared with equivalent nominal standard fires, and an extensive experimental campaign for firebrand reaction [71] was undertaken. The design of a fireproof house implies that it: (i) must withstand the near passage of a WLF; (ii) it must be protected against the entrance of firebrands; and (iii) in urban situations in the WUI, should be protected against the possible fire of nearby dwellings.…”

“…The design of a fireproof house implies that it: (i) must withstand the near passage of a WLF; (ii) it must be protected against the entrance of firebrands; and (iii) in urban situations in the WUI, should be protected against the possible fire of nearby dwellings. This fireproof house must withstand the total thermal exposure of an exterior fire so that its residents remain safely indoors for an estimated time of 120 min according to [27]. These fireproof requirements must obey the fire resistance and reaction class structural reliability of the Eurocodes [53,72].…”

“…In this section, a simplified verification for wildfire resistance based on the classical nominal curve ISO-834 is presented by comparing the nominal fire curve with the wildfire performance base curve. To compare the action of a wildfire with ISO-834, the equivalent area and heat flux method are applied and compared, and these examples are fully detailed in [27]. These were obtained initially for dwellings and then particularized for essential buildings by using different safety coefficients and cooling parameters, in which a meticulous description is presented in [27].…”